WEST HARTFORD – The Hartford men’s basketball team wrapped up the regular season Sunday afternoon with a 67-56 victory over Maryland-Baltimore County before a crowd of 1,679 at Chase Family Arena.

While a 24-point lead was shaved to nine in the final minute, it was a pretty thorough performance, a 40-minute culmination of a one journey that positioned the Hawks for what they hope is the start of the next.

Hartford (16-15, 10-6 America East) earned the No. 3 seed for the conference tournament and opens with a quarterfinal against No. 6 Binghamton Saturday at 8:30 p.m. at SEFCU Arena in Albany, N.Y. The Hawks will do so on a high.

Hartford, which rebounded from a 2-7 start with a difficult non-conference schedule to move over .500 for the first time Sunday, have finished with winning regular-season records for just the third time in the program’s 30-year Division I history. The Hawks have 33 victories between this season and last, a program record, and perhaps most importantly they have a core of juniors who have just about seen it all during their time in red and white jerseys.

“I have no fear going in this year,” said coach John Gallagher, whose team was seeded third last season, too, and lost in a first-round upset to UMBC. “It’s way different. I had fears last year because of the [inexperience] of the group, the tightness. I don’t have any fear. … We were up 10 in the second half last year in that game and I never felt comfortable. I have such great belief in this team and I have trust that has built through time. We’ve been together now over 90 games. We’re ready to go here.”

The Hawks can equal last season’s total with a victory in the conference tournament. Two more victories would equal a program record. Three more would, of course, break it – and land Hartford in the NCAA Tournament field for the first time.

“The mindset is we’re going to win,” said guard Corban Wroe, who set career highs Sunday with four three-pointers and 21 points. “Like Coach always says, we’re on a mission, so losing right now isn’t in our thought process.”

Yolonzo Moore had 14 points and six assists for Hartford, which has won six of seven. Mark Nwakamma, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, sat the final 7:40 with the game in hand and finished with 10 points and eight rebounds in 16 minutes.

Hartford, which is 9-3 at home, led by 29-19 at halftime and 55-31 after Wroe’s final three-pointer with 8:22 remaining. Rodney Elliott had 21 points for UMBC (9-20, 5-11), which earned the No. 5 seed and opens tournament play against No. 4 Albany, the host.

“Today was a get-better day,” Moore said. “Every day, we get better. … I think we’re playing our best basketball.”

Hartford, which won six of its final seven games, swept the season series with Binghamton (7-22, 4-12), but both games were a chore. The Hawks won 56-54 Jan. 23 in Binghamton and 89-83 in overtime Thursday at Chase. After scoring 33 points and helping the Bearcats erase Hartford’s 15-point lead in that game, Binghamton sophomore guard Jordan Reed said of the Hawks, “I would love to see them again.”

He will Saturday.

“I just feel like we’re coming,” Gallagher said before praising his players. “It’s my program, it’s their team. They’re going to dictate where this goes and they’re so fully invested. When you have expectations as a head coach and everybody in the room meets them, it’s special. I cherish my time with these guys. It’s a unique group. It’s a group that I think is peaking at the right time.”